Chatham County, North Carolina is a lovely rural environment, just perfect for artists to create and show their work. Chatham's visual and performing artists offer unique authentic creations, just minutes from the Triangle, Triad and Southern Pines communities.
Come experience our creativity!
*Copyright of Forrest C. Greenslade, PhD

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Chatham County artist and writer, Forrest C. Grenslade, PhD
will debut his new book, Visitations: A Nature-Lover’s Journal at downtown
Pittsboro’s Joyful Jewel on Sunday August 5th at 1 PM.

"I was that kid you could always find turning over
rocks in streams, looking for what wonders nature would disclose to me,"
says Greenslade. His curiosity about the natural world, led him to a life as
scientist and organizational executive. Now in retirement, Dr. Greenslade is
again doing what he did when he was ten years old -- turning over rocks and
sculpting and painting the wonders that nature discloses.

Visitations: A Nature-Lover’s Journal is the
place where you can capture your own discoveries in your garden, on your walks
through your special places, or just in your reveries. Greenslade’s newest book
is a collection of his nature-inspired paintings and original poems, coupled
with spaces to daily record your experiences in your garden and special natural
places.

Along with his new book, Greenslade will exhibit a selection
of his artwork at the Jewel. His organic sculptures and paintings, derived from
a life-long love of nature and mythology, have a new look and feel.
Greenslade’s work is highly stylized yet clearly grounded in the natural world.
His relief paintings are sculptural, built up with inches of thick acrylics and
modeling paste to the point that they nearly jump off the canvas. His
sculptures are enhanced with innovative coatings and patinas producing color,
texture and an illusion of movement. His enhanced watercolors are soft and
luminous. “I want people to experience motion and emotion in my art,”
Greenslade asserts, “so my faces are seldom symmetrical and my figures just
can’t stand still.” Greenslade’s use of materials is eclectic. “Because of my
scientific training, I tend to be experimental in my choice of media,” he
explains. “I use metal, concrete, clay, acrylics, wood, found-objects –
whatever tells the best story.”

"I lived a serious life, but now in my dotage, I am
just letting the kid out again, " Greenslade smiles.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Metalsmith
Lynell (http://www.designsbylynell.com/) is a new member
of the Chatham Artists Guild (http://www.chathamartistsguild.org/). Visitors to
her studio, just south of Chapel Hill, during the 20th Annual
Chatham Studio Tour, will enjoy her eclectic garden and lovely nature-inspired
jewelry.Lynell’s art in precious metals
captures the diverse experiences of an unexpectedly adventurous life.

Lynell in her Chatham County Studio
Photo: LD

Lynell
grew up on a farm near Asheville North Carolina in the 1950’s, the third of
four children. “It was a simple life – I enjoyed doing farm chores with my
brother, exploring the streams and woodlands, and just being outside,” she
recalls. Her father ran the farm, and her mother was a housewife and later
became a beautician. Lynell worked in her mom’s beauty shop after school.
Lynell was always attracted to art, but there were no art classes in school.
“The closest thing to an art class was mechanical drawing, and girls were not
allowed to take it,” she notes

Lynell
worked in a factory and took some art classes for a time, but her life made to
an abrupt change for the better, when the Winnebago Company moved into town,
and opened a van conversion facility. “I heard that they were hiring artists,
she states, “And I went to talk myself into a job.” Winnebago gave two weeks to
prove her skills, painting murals on vans. Prove herself she did. “It was the
best job!” she emotes. “I was actually getting paid to make art.” The company
even paid Lynell to take art classes at UNC Asheville. “I realized that I was
an artist, and always would be,” She asserts.

This
period in the early 1970s was a wonderful time for Lynell. She met Denny, her
now husband of 30 plus years. “He supported my art and recognized how much it
meant to me,” Lynell contemplates. “We have been partners in adventure ever
since.”

Artists and adventurers
Photo: LD

In
the mid70s, the Winnebago plant closed because of the gas crisis. Lynell went
full time into her painting – landscapes, nature, some life drawings. She began
to participate in art shows.

In
1982,Lynell and Denny moved to the
Pittsboro area, and opened an upscale shop “The Vintage Gourmet” in Cole Park Plaza.
They offered good cheeses, good wines, good coffee, sea food – things that
folks couldn’t get in supermarkets at the time. Lynell continued to paint and
did “crafty projects”. They ran this business for 9 years. Their daughter and
son went on to college, and they looked for a new adventure.

Lynell
and Denny learned pottery from well known potter Jim Pringle, and worked with
him for a time. To help out a friend, Lynell took a job in a local dental lab,
and learned the very precise skills of metalsmithing.

Denny
had always loved sailing, and Lynell wanted to learn. “We rented a little
sailboat at Jordan Lake, and he tried to teach me,” she smiles. “We fought all
day.” Lynell decided to go to a women’s sailing school in Chesapeake to learn
the basics, and after that the couple got along fine. They began talking about
an extended sailing activity. Denny began studying for his captain’s license.
Lynell helped him study. Denny encouraged her to take the captain’s test
too. They each passed the Coast Guard exam, bought a 27 foot sail boat, packed
up their belongings, rented out their house, and launched a 7 year voyage all
up and down the Eastern seaboard. For a time, they ran a marina in the Florida
Keys. They later took a 3-month road trip across the US.

Lynell's creation in precious metals
Photo: LD

Upon
returning to Chatham, they continued to explore various art media. They became
interested in working with metal. “One day we took the Chatham Studio Tour, and
visited Monnda Welch,” Lynell explains.
Lynell said to Welch, “You’re going to teach me how to do this.” She worked
under Welch’s tutelage for 3 to 4 years. “I am still learning from Monnda,” she
stresses.

In
the mid 2000s, Lynell established her own metalsmithing studio. She creates
artful jewelry that reflects the many facets of her life’s adventures. “My work
reflects a love of the rich cultural heritage and environment of not only North
Carolina where I grew up, but also as a result of traveling across our
beautiful and diverse country.” She notes. Monnda Welch says, “Lynell paints
with metal.

Lynell is one of the many regionally and
nationally recognized artists and fine crafts people who will open their
studios the first two weekends in December at the 20th Annual
Chatham Studio Tour (http://www.chathamartistsguild.org/about/details.html).
Visitors from all around enjoy Chatham’s rural beauty and share with the
members of the Chatham Artists Guild in the creative process. It is a holiday
tradition, and an opportunity to purchase unique original art.

Monday, July 16, 2012

I was born in 1939 in a small town in upstate New York. By
that time, the territory of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, which before 1800 had
ranged from Texas to South Carolina, had been reduced to a tract of land in
Louisiana. The demand for lumber in the US after the Civil War had stripped the
South of its vast woodlands. The need for boxes to support the effort in World
War II then caused the destruction of those woods in Louisiana. That year, A
Cornell University PhD student, working with the National Audubon Society,
reported that there might be only 25 Ivory Bills alive in the US, mostly in
that Louisiana tract, and only one mating pair.

Twilight for the Lord God Bird
A painting in watercolor and colored pencil by Forrest C. Greenslade, PhD

The last recorded sighting of an Ivory Bill was in 1944. I
was in grammar school. We had a Junior Audubon Club in our school – I was an
enthusiastic member. What I remember most in the little magazine that we
received, was J. J. Audubon’s iconic painting of a family of Ivory Billed
Woodpeckers. He had painted it in the 1820s, and published it in 1831 in Birds of America. Back then, the Ivory
Bill was known by many colloquial names: the Van Dyke, White Back, Pate,
Tit-Ka. Audubon noted, that because of the size and beauty of the Ivory Bill,
many folks exclaimed “Lord God, what a bird”.

Audubon and the Junior Audubon Club had a lasting impact on
my entire life. I was that kid you could always find turning over rocks in
streams, looking for what wonders nature would disclose to me. I was lucky to
study biology in high school, college and graduate school, which takes me to
another encounter with the Lord God Bird.

In the early 1960s, I went to New Orleans to attend graduate
school at Tulane University. Our library had an original elephant folio copy of
Audubon’s Birds of America. We were
actually allowed to touch this precious book. I luxuriated in leafing through
Audubon’s wood cut prints, and again the Ivory Billed Woodpecker painting was
my favorite. I was taking a program in Biological Sciences. This required
courses ranging from Botany to Molecular Biology and Natural History. In an
Avian Biology course, we went on a field trip to a swampy woodland about an hour
from New Orleans. Deep in this wild place, we all swore that we caught a
glimpse of an Ivory Bill.

Piliated Woodpecker
Watercolor and colored pencil by Forrest

There had been a lot of rumors of Ivory Bill sightings all
around the country. Most experts dismissed these observations as mistaking the
slightly smaller and common Piliated Woodpecker for the Ivory Bill. Did we make
the same mistake? Probably – but this experience is a memory that I have
cherished for a lifetime.

My curiosity about the natural world, led me to a life as
scientist and organizational executive. Now in retirement, I am again doing
what I did in grammar school -- turning over rocks and sculpting and painting
the wonders that nature discloses.

In 2002, a six-person international team searched the Pearl
River Wildlife Management Area in Louisiana. They found some signs of Ivory
Bills but no birds. In the last couple of years, there were purported sightings
in Arkansas and Florida. Is the Ivory Billed Woodpecker extinct? Likely – But
if not extinct, the Lord God Bird is in its twilight.

My painting is my wish
that this magnificent bird has a little more time.

Forrest

Notes: Historical information was taken from Phillip Hoose's excellent book, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, Melanie Kroupa Books, 2004, New York. To my knowlege, there are no colored photographs of the Ivory Bill. I used J. J. Audubon's painiting, which he did from dead field specimens, to guide my selection of colors.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Jan
Dunn can walk her Golden Retriever Buckeye to the Haw River from her Chatham
County home and studio. “The other day, we were sitting on the river bank
looking at the rushing water riffling around a large rock out in the water,”
she explains. “My mind immediately turned that image into a woven pattern,” she
continues. Over the last few years, Dunn has purposefully woven a lifetime of
personal experiences, love of nature, and supportive friendships into her
unique creative artworks.

Jan Dunn in her Chatham County Studio
Photo: FG

Jan
Dunn was born in Alabama while her Organic Chemist father attended graduate
school. Growing up involved moves to Nebraska, Delaware, Ohio and Virginia, as
dad finished his education and pursued a career. “Our family life centered on
hiking, exploring and sailing,” she recalls, “always around nature”. She earned
a degree in Psychology at Virginia Tech.

Marriage
took Dunn to Florida and finally North Carolina with her ecologist/naturalist
husband, a life again strongly influenced by the natural world. “I guess I
played more of a supportive role and took advantage of opportunities to
experience nature”, she reflects. “Our past-times were gardening, camping,
learning about nature,” she states. “I loved learning about nature’s constant
interconnections.”

Dunn enhanced basket
Photo: JD

Dunn
works primarily in government jobs, currently at the EPA, in information
technology, usually in database development. “I was searching for a past-time
that would spark creativity, as well as produce tangible results for my
efforts,” she relates.“Baskets had
always tugged at me when browsing in craft galleries, and my mother-in-law’s
basket making gave me a gentle nudge.” She took a couple of short courses in
basket making at Raleigh’s Sertoma Art Center. Several years later, she
discovered basket maker Susan Laswell at the Carrboro Farmer’s Market, who
weaves baskets made with beautiful colors and patterns.“Under her tutelage, I was completely smitten
with basket making,” Dunn asserts.

Dunn’s
creative life recently became more focused by a period of personal challenge.
“I lost both of my parents, and my marriage of thirty-plus years became
unraveled,” she reveals. “Looking back, those experiences pushed me to a place
where I was more open to enjoying my art – I hadn’t realized how much I loved
it”.Dunn now meets with basket-making
friends each week to weave and share ideas. “The influence of fellow weavers
has encouraged me to think outside the box (or basket),” she quips.

The
ancient traditions and designs of basket making have influenced Dunn’s work.
Traditional weaving techniques are coupled with natural and unconventional
materials.“I enjoy incorporating
contemporary twists into baskets and weavings, adding beads and found natural
objects as well as personal mementos to add a touch of whimsy to the pieces,”
Dunn concludes.

Nature-inspired basket
Photo: JD

Dunn’s
original designs are inspired by nature – colors and patterns seen in wood
grain, fungi, and riffles in a river.“It’s challenging to translate those impressions to a medium that is
primarily linear,” she explains.“The
weaving materials guide the design, but sometimes, the basket ‘speaks’ to me to
change the direction.The predictable
rhythm of weaving, and pleasing touch of the fibers has a meditative quality
that generates a creative peace.”

Jan
Dunn is one of the many regionally and nationally recognized artists and fine
crafts people who will open their studios the first two weekends in December at
the 20th Annual Chatham Studio Tour. Visitors from all around enjoy
Chatham’s rural beauty and share with the members of the Chatham Artists Guild
in the creative process. It is a holiday tradition, and an opportunity to
purchase unique original art. She will exhibit in collaboration with her friend
and fellow Guild artist Jane Eckenrode.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

“I’ve
lived in Chatham County for 23 years, and I finally have my studio here,” notes
Erik Wolken, who has just become a member of the Chatham Artists Guild; but
Wolken’s journey to Chatham has taken many twists and turns, with a few detours
along the way.

Erik Wolken in his Chatham County StudioPhoto by Michael Schwalbe

“Looking
back at growing up in Pittsburgh, I was sort of the black sheep in an
incredibly creative and brainy family,” Wolken recalls. “My father was a
biophysicist and professor at Carnegie Mellon University – My mom was a fiber
artist –My one sister who is a painter in California, and
one who used to be a producer and director for the Chicago public radio
station, and she now is executive director of Third Coast International Audio
Festival – My
brother became the founder of the athletic dance troop Pilobulus – and me,” he
summarizes. It was assumed that Wolken would become either an artist or a
scientist, but he didn’t show much artistic inclination.

Wolken
pretty much grew up in his dad’s laboratory at the Carnegie Mellon University.
He admired the craftsman who designed and built the tools and machines that
supported his father’s scientific investigations. “Dad was a completely
cerebral guy, living in his own head to the point that he didn’t even drive,”
wolken observes.

He
worked in his dad’s lab while attending college, when a minor accident became
the tipping point in his life’s script. “I was pushing a cart full of culture
bottles down the hall on the fifth floor of that old building on the way to the
elevator to go to the sterilization room,” Wolken explains. He hit a little
bump. The cart tipped over. The culture bottles flew in all directions in a
shower of broken glass. People came running out of all the labs. “Did they ask
me if I was OK? Did they offer to help me clean up the mess? No – they inquired
whether I had lost the samples.”

He
pursued a bachelor’s degree in geography at West Virginia University, most
interested in classic mapmaking. A chance encounter in the library with a book
by iconic furniture craftsman, Wendell Castle, again refocused Wolken’s
direction. He took courses in woodworking at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, and then moved to North Carolina in 1988 to participate in the
Program in Fine Woodworking at Haywood Community College. From 1989 to 1995 he worked as a
cabinetmaker for Woodpecker Enterprises in Apex, NC. In 1995 he
opened his own studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and has been working on
private commissions and showing his work nationally since.

Sculptural Furniture by Erik WolkenPhoto by Seth Tice Lewis

ErikWolken builds functional sculpture, work that serves both a sculptural
aesthetic and a utilitarian function. There is a rhythm and poetry in his
pieces, a flow to the lines, a confluence of color and texture that makes
a complete statement. “My pieces are often the result of a process of
discovery,” he asserts. “Seldom do I start with a plan written in stone,
but just a series of rough pencil sketches and the belief that I can divine the
meaning of a piece in the process of building it.”

“All of me, even
what is not so pretty, I try to put in my work.”

The
final passage in Wolken’s journey to Chatham was catalyzed by a gift of a table
saw. He had wanted to bring his studio home for some time, and had applied for
a loan to fund its construction. While teaching at Penland, a fellow artist was
offering an old saw that didn’t have all the modern safety bells and whistles.
Erik accepted the gift as an omen that his odyssey was complete. Two close
friends helped him in the construction of a spare and functional workspace.

Erik
Wolken is one of the many regionally and nationally recognized artists and fine
crafts people who will open their studios the first two weekends in December at
the 20th Annual Chatham Studio Tour. Visitors from all around enjoy
Chatham’s rural beauty and share with the members of the Chatham Artists Guild
in the creative process. It is a holiday tradition, and an opportunity to
purchase unique original art.

About Forrest

"I was that kid you could always find turning over rocks in streams, looking for what wonders nature would disclose to me," says Greenslade. His curiosity about the natural world led him to a life as scientist and organizational executive. Now in retirement, Dr. Greenslade is again doing what he did when he was ten years old -- turning over rocks and sculpting and painting the wonders that nature discloses.
"I lived a serious life, but now in my dotage, I am just letting the kid out again," Greenslade smiles.
"It's more fun than an old guy deserves."
My wife Carol-Ann and I live in Fearrington Village, where we host The Artist's Garret AirBNB over my Organic Forrestry Studio.